Planning and the Control of Action

Abstract

Planning has been found to have a powerful effect on human actions (e.g., Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006 ). But how do people plan? In this chapter we fi rst introduce implementation intentions (e.g., Gollwitzer, 1999 ) as an effi cient way of planning. Implementation intentions refer to specifi c plans in which individuals and groups can specify when, where, and how they intend to act using an if-then format (e.g., "If I come home from work on Fridays, then I will immediately put on my jogging shoes and go for a 30-minute run!"). After we examine how they support goal pursuit, we differentiate between spontaneous and strategic planning-two ways in which if-then plans can be made on the basis of goal-related knowledge.With respect to spontaneous planning, we highlight the importance of the accessibility of goal-related knowledge. We introduce goal systems theory (Kruglanski, Shah, Fishbach, Friedman, Chun, & Sleeth-Keppler, 2002 ) as a conceptual framework because it addresses the question of how goals can increase the accessibility of knowledge about when, where, and how to pursue the goal. To illustrate how the accessibility of goal-related knowledge facilitates goal attainment, we discuss a set of recent studies. They show that individuals spontaneously grasp goal-relevant information in the form of implementation intentions (Marquardt, Tröger, Wieber, & Gollwitzer, 2016 ; see also Marquardt, 2011 ) even if it is incidentally provided in their environment and that they use this knowledge to improve their goal attainment without being prompted to do so.

Would You Rather Be Safe or Free? Motivational and Behavioral Aspects in COVID-19 Mitigation

“…Knowledge of individuals' motivations is now more crucial than ever for designing effective interventions (Wieber and Gollwitzer, 2017;Oettingen and Gollwitzer, 2018), media campaigns (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2020), and for the prediction of people's behaviors related to COVID-19. Our findings suggest that motivations toward safety and freedom are potential targets for health-promotion interventions related to COVID-19.…”

“…Second, we aim at investigating the relationship between the identified goals and specific mitigation-related behavioral outcomes. This would allow identifying a set of goals that could be leveraged, for instance, to develop interventions promoting adherence to norms related to COVID-19 and discouraging their violation (e.g., Freitas et al, 2004;Prestwich et al, 2010;Oettingen, 2012;Wieber and Gollwitzer, 2017). The work is articulated in two studies, both carried out in Italy between March and April 2020, during the "Phase-1" lockdown.…”

How to support learning with multimedia instruction: Implementation intentions help even when load is high

“…Implementation intentions are specific 'if-then' plans that aim at facilitating the translation of a goal-directed intention into actual action(s) (e.g. 'If I encounter situation Y, then I will perform the goal-directed response Z'; Gollwitzer, 1999Gollwitzer, , 2014Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006;Wieber & Gollwitzer, 2017). They achieve this by strongly linking a situational cue in the 'if '-part that indicates a good opportunity to act (i.e.…”